Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on (a) GP phone reception capacity and (b) the ability of patients to book appointments in (a) Slough and (b) England.

The data requested on general practitioner (GP) phone reception capacity is not collected or held centrally.

NHS England and NHS Improvement are working through its seven regions, including Slough, to ensure patients can access appointments in general practice.

A £150 million General Practice Covid Capacity Expansion Fund has been made available to support expanding GP capacity up to the end of March 2021. Priorities include increasing GP numbers and capacity, identifying and supporting patients with ‘long’ COVID-19 and continuing to support clinically extremely vulnerable patients.